Blueberry Crunch Cake

A young couple recently moved into the house next door, and I wanted to make them something to say "welcome to the neighborhood." (I say "young couple" as though my husband and I are elderly, don't I? What I mean is they're just younger than us -- as is evidenced by the two rather rowdy parties they've had so far. Joe and I are waaaaay past the rowdy party stage.) I wanted to make something for Joe, Andrew and I to take over so that we can introduce ourselves and so that they can see we have a baby, which I'm hoping will make them think twice about playing their music at full volume every night.

ANYWAY! I will give them a chance to get settled in before I judge too much. I found a recipe in Paula Deen's magazine for a "dump cake" of sorts that sounded absolutely delicious. I decided to try it out on my husband and our best friends before I sent it off to the neighbors, which turned out to be good for us but absolutely unnecessary: This cake was delicious. I should have known Paula would never fail me! This is probably one of the tastiest and definitely the easiest cake I've ever made. No dirty dishes! No mixing or measuring of any kind required!

I loved it with the blueberry pie filling, but Paula says you can try it with any fruit filling: strawberry, blackberry, cherry or peach. I love the crumbly quality of the cake and pecan layer, which works so well with the sweet juiciness of the pineapple and blueberry. I can't say enough about this cake; I've made my whole family try a piece, and they all love it too. It's such a refreshing summer dessert (although it's very rich, not light by any means!). (The cake is delicious topped with whipped cream, too, but then: what isn't delicious topped with whipped cream?)

So welcome to the neighborhood, new neighbors...Keep your damn music down!

(LOVE YOU, Paula!)



Blueberry Crunch Cake
Source: Cooking with Paula Deen, July/August 2008, page 63

1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple in juice
1 21-ounce can blueberry pie filling
1 box butter recipe yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Pour pineapple with juice into a 9 x 13 baking dish; spread evenly over bottom of dish. Sppn pie filling evenly over pineapple.

3. Sprinkle dry cake mix over pie filling; level with a fork. Sprinkle pecans evenly over cake mix; drizzle with melted butter.

4. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, or until browned and bubbly.